Food Services Office

The U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in employment or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.)

If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint filingcust.html, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. Send in your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at [email protected].

Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339; or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish).

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

School Meals 101: What Families Should Know

Did You Know That:
 

• Children who eat school meals are more likely to consume milk, fruit and vegetables and less likely to eat desserts and snack items than children who do not.
• The National School Lunch Program and Breakfast programs are federally assisted programs.
• A school lunch is required to offer five food components at lunch, including fruit, vegetable, grain, meat or meat alternate, and milk
• A student must take 3 of the five components at lunch and one must be a fruit or vegetable
• A school breakfast is required to offer four components including fruit, grain, meat/meat alternate, milk
• A student must take 3 of the four components at breakfast and one must be a fruit

Tips for families:

 - Eat Right:
 

• Make half your grains whole. Choose whole-grain foods such as whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice, and low-fat popcorn, more often.
• Vary your veggies. Go dark green and orange with your vegetables - eat spinach, broccoli, carrots, or dried and go easy on the fruit juice.
• Focus on fruits. Eat them at meals, and at snack time, too. Choose fresh, frozen, canned, or dried, and go easy on the fruit juice.
• Get your calcium-rich foods. To build strong bones serve low-fat and fat-free milk and other milk products several times a day.
• Go Lean with protein. Eat lean or low-fat meat, chicken, turkey, and fish. Also, change your tune with more dry beans and peas. Add chickpeas, nuts, or seeds to a salad; or kidney beans to soup.
• Change your oil. We all need oil. Get yours from fish, nuts, and liquid oils such corn, soybean, canola, and olive oil.
• Don't sugarcoat it. Choose foods and beverages that do not have sugar and caloric sweeteners as one of the first ingredients. Added sugars contribute calories with few, if any, nutrients.

- Exercise:
 

• Set a good example. Be active and get your family to join you. Have fun together. Play with the kids or pets. Go for a walk, tumble in the leaves, or play catch.
• Take the President's challenge as a family. Track your individual physical activities together and earn awards for active lifestyles at www.presidentschallenge.org.
• Establish a routine. Set aside time each day as activity time- walk, jog, skate, cycle, or swim. Adults need at least 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week; children 60 minutes every day or most days.
• Have an activity party. Make the next birthday party centered on physical activity. Try backyard Olympics or relay races. Have a bowling or skating party.
• Set up a home gym. Use household items, such as canned foods, as weights. Stairs can substitute for stair machines.
• Move it! Instead of sitting through TV commercials, get up and move. When you talk on the phone, lift weights or walk around. Remember to limit TV watching and computer time.
• Give activity gifts. Give gifts that encourage physical activity - active games or sporting equipment.

- Vitamins for Strong Bone, Teeth, and Muscles:

Proper nutrition is important for growing boys and girls. Nutrition comes from vitamins and minerals, which can be found in the foods we eat and the drinks we consume. As you grow, your body needs specific amounts of vitamins at certain ages. While this all might sound very confusing, it is important to understand! With the right balance of vitamins, you will grow taller, stronger, and healthier overall. More about Vitamins.

Online Health and Nutrition Games:

Nourish Interactive is your free one-stop resource for fun nutrition games for kids, interactive nutrition tools and tips for parents and health educators to use to promote healthy living for the whole family. Created by nutrition and health care professionals, Nourish Interactive's nutrition education website gives children and families the knowledge and skills they need to make healthy choices.

BlastOff! Fuel up your MyPlate spaceship with smart food choices and 60 minutes of physical activity to fly to Planet Power! Play BlastOff.

Nutrition Vocabulary:

Here is an easy to understand list of terms used in nutrition and food service

Community Eligibility Provision 

We are pleased to inform you that Greyhound Central Elementary, Lockwood Elementary, Greyhound Intermediate and Middle School will be participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) as part of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs for the School Year 2024-2025.

The GREAT NEWS is that ALL students enrolled at our school can receive a healthy breakfast and lunch at NO CHARGE to your household each day.

In place of the Free and Reduced-Price Meal Application we still need your household to fill out and sign the Household Information Report. This report is critical in determining the amount of money that our school receives from a variety of State and Federal supplemental programs like Title I A, At-risk (31a), Title II A, E- Rate, etc. 

These supplemental programs have the potential to offer supports and services for our students including, but not limited to:

• Instructional supports (staff, supplies & materials, etc.)
• Non-instructional services (counseling, social work, health services, etc.)
• Professional Learning for staff
• Parent and Community engagement supplies and activities
• Technology

We are asking that you please complete the Household Information Report and submit it as soon as possible to ensure that additional funding for our school is available to meet the needs of our students. All information on the report submitted is confidential. Without your assistance in completing and returning the attached report, our school cannot maximize the use of available State and Federal funds.

 If we can be of any further assistance, please contact us at 517-663-4280.